1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to an apparatus for and a method of testing diesel engine heads for fuel and/or coolant leaks.
2. Description of the Related Art
A preliminary patentability search conducted in class 73, subclasses 46 and 47 produced Krone, U.S. Pat. No. 1,580,786, issued Apr. 13, 1926; Morgan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,328,289, issued Aug. 31, 1943; O'Brien, U.S. Pat. No. 2,342,616, issued Feb. 22, 1944; Wagenhals, U.S. Pat. No. 2,618,963, issued Nov. 25, 1952; Cummins, U.S. Pat. No. 3,029,630, issued Apr. 17, 1962; Fegel, U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,225, issued Apr. 1, 1975; and Kelly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,500, issued Jul. 29, 1986.
Krone discloses a compression tester for combustion engines. The Krone compression tester is secured upon an automobile engine block above the cylinder openings to test the compression produced within the cylinder openings by the pistons after the cylinder head has been removed.
Morgan et al. discloses an engine leakage meter for measuring leakage of gas from the cylinder of a four-stroke internal combustion engine, past the piston and valves thereof. The Morgan et al. engine leakage meter is screwed into a spark plug opening of the engine after the spark plug is removed.
O'Brien discloses a leakage testing device particularly designed for testing the tightness of joints between tubes and tube sheets embodied in steam boilers or the like. The O'Brien device includes a shank for fitting inside the tube and for forming a seal in the inside of the tube, a hollow skirt for forming a seal on the tube sheet about the end of the tube, and means for introducing fluid under pressure into the interior of the skirt and for gaging that fluid pressure.
Wagenhals discloses a machine for testing the strength of shipping tubes made of wound paper and having a slip cap adhesively secured at one end thereof. The Wagenhals machine includes a support frame, a nozzle adapted to be positioned in a shipping tube having one open end and one capped end, means for controlling the flow of air through the nozzle, and means for holding the tube against lengthwise movement.
Fegel discloses a pressure tester for the injector sleeve of diesel engine heads to determine whether the cylindrical and frusto-conical portions of the injector sleeve are in fluid-tight engagement with the walls of a fuel injector aperture in the engine head. The Fegel pressure tester includes a top tester body for being inserted into a fuel injector aperture in an engine head from the top side of the engine head; a top seal carried by the top tester body and engageable with the peripheral wall of the fuel injector aperture; a bottom tester body insertable into the fuel injector aperture from the bottom side of the engine head after the engine head has been removed from the engine block, and a bottom seal carried by the bottom tester body and engageable with the bottom of the cylinder head about the bottom of the fuel injector aperture.
Kelly discloses an apparatus for leakage testing of tubes and joints. The Kelly apparatus includes a pull bar surrounded by an array of arcuate segments having teeth that engage and deform the inner surface of a tube. When tension is applied to the pull bar, a cam forces the segments to move outwardly to contact the tube while maintaining a parallel relationship to the pull bar.
None of the above patents disclose or suggest the present invention. More specifically, none of the above patents disclose or suggest a method or means that is capable of forming an air-tight seal in a fuel injector aperture of an engine cylinder head between a coolant passageway that communicates with the fuel injector aperture and a first side of the cylinder head; forming an air-tight seal in the fuel injector aperture between the coolant passageway and a second side of the cylinder head while the cylinder head is attached to an engine block; then pressurizing the fuel injector aperture between the air-tight seals thereof; and then monitoring the pressure of the fuel injector aperture between the air-tight seals thereof over a period of time.